Sunday, October 13, 2013

Salt And Bad Cholesterol Reduction - Heart Disease Prevention

By Hoo Jia Xin
2012-122468
Topic: Ministry of Health
 
Heart Disease constitutes the primary causes of death in Malaysia. In 2010, the total number of deaths in Malaysia resulted from coronary heart disease was at 22,701 according to the WHO (World Health Organisation). This constitutes to about 22.18% of the total deaths in the country. It occurs when the coronary arteries can no longer properly provide the blood irrigation of the heart muscle due to their narrowing or obstruction. Heart disease includes, atherosclerosis, angina pectoris, and heart attack. Heart disease is manifested by painful attacks and in its most serious form— heart attack.
 
Figure 1: Chest Pain
       Eating habit is a significant risk factor for heart disease. In Malaysia, there are a wide variety of food choices, hence people may have a greater risk of consuming high cholesterol, excess salt content and high calories food.  According to the World Health Organization, an increase of 10% blood cholesterol due to a diet rich in fat increases the risks of coronary disease by 50%. As a result, a diet that rich in salt and bad cholesterol will increase the risk of heart disease.


Figure 2: Scrumptious Food Of Malaysia
 
In order to reduce the rate of Malaysian suffering from the heart disease, Malaysians should pay attention on their daily calories and nutrient intake. The way to prevent the heart disease is done by using the salt and bad cholesterol reduction concept. By doing so Malaysians can lower down their calories intake, bad cholesterol and salt level in their body and at same time can reduce the chances of getting heart disease.


 
 
Figure 3 & 4: Salt and Cholesterol Reduction


A campaign called ‘You Are What You Eat’ will be organized to raise the public awareness of heart disease and let the public know more details regarding the causes and the ways to prevent heart diseases. In this campaign, the food manufacturing industry will have to corporate with the ministry to reduce the usage of salt and lipid content in the food product. The food product labelling will also be enhanced to list out more details regarding the food calories, cholesterol and salt content of that particular food.
Figure 5 - You are what you eat.


Each and every of the restaurant, food stalls are compulsory to show the calorie count, salt and cholesterol content of the food on the menu. Besides, on the front page of the menu should be having a list of optimum calorie, salt and calorie intake of a person according to different age group for the customer to refer to. Any restaurant and food stalls that fail to do so will be fined or punished.


By having this concept, the calories, salt and bad cholesterol intake of Malaysians can be reduced and the same time prevent them from getting heart diseases. And by having a healthy heart, Malaysians can live a healthier life and can move forward to a more progressive, prosperous country and make Malaysia a better place to live.


 


 


 


Reference:-

1.       Podesto, M. (2010). The Ultimate Medical Encyclopedia (pp. 256-259). Ellicott Station Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books.

2.       Alexis.Heart Disease in Malaysia – No.1 Killer (2013, August). In Family. Retrieved October 11, 2013, from http://www.family.my/heart-disease-in-malaysia-no-1-killer/

3.       Mayo Clinic Staff, . (2013, January 16). Heart Disease . In Mayo Clinic. Retrieved October 11, 2013, from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heart-disease/DS01120/DSECTION=causes

4.       Heart Disease Information (2013). In Healthy Eating And Prevention. Retrieved September 21, 2013, from http://www.healthy-eating-and-nutrition.com/heart-disease-information.html

5.    Tun Haji Abdul Razak, N. (2013, September 28). The 2013 Budget Speech. Retrieved September 21, 2013, from http://www.pmo.gov.my/dokumenattached/bajet2013/SPEECH_BUDGET_2013_28092012_E.pdf
 




 

 
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22 comments:

  1. UnknownOctober 25, 2013 at 12:56 AM

    Hi, that's a good post. I agree on the solution that you propose. This will be very effective.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownOctober 30, 2013 at 11:28 PM

    By quoting your paragraph of
    "Each and every of the restaurant, food stalls are compulsory to show the calorie count, salt and cholesterol content of the food on the menu. Besides, on the front page of the menu should be having a list of optimum calorie, salt and calorie intake of a person according to different age group for the customer to refer to. Any restaurant and food stalls that fail to do so will be fined or punished."

    I strongly agree with your point to increase the awareness of people about their daily calorie intake so that obesity rate in our nation will decrease too.
    But there are bad cholesterol and good cholesterol, cholesterol intake should not be reduced blindly. Base on your opinion, how will you solve this problem?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jia XinNovember 4, 2013 at 12:27 AM

      Thanks for your comment! As we know that there are good and bad cholesterol, bad cholesterol will causes the formation of plaque and causes heart attack and good cholesterol are believed by some expert that can reduced the bad cholesterol level and prevent heart disease. Good cholesterol are unsaturated fat normally from plants like oats and some fish oil while bad cholesterol are saturated fat and trans fat like butter, whipped cream, fried food, and margerine.

      Delete
    2. Jia XinNovember 4, 2013 at 12:34 AM

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. Jia XinNovember 4, 2013 at 12:35 AM

      To solve this problem, people are adviced to take less saturated fat and trans fat which is the fat especially from the animals and increase the intake of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and low-fat daily products as these food contain good cholesterol.

      Delete
  3. UnknownNovember 1, 2013 at 12:52 AM

    I agree on all those step to reduce the rate of getting heart disease especially paying more attention on our eating habits and reduce the usage of salt and lipid content in food product. Hope it will be very useful on reducing the change of getting heart disease.^_^

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownNovember 5, 2013 at 5:30 AM

    I was surprised when your data stated that 22.18% of the country death is caused by coronary heart disease. I agree about your quote: You are what you eat. Organizing campaigns and the cooperation between food industries and ministry will surely improve the health of citizens.

    ReplyDelete
  5. HuinglimNovember 5, 2013 at 4:35 PM

    Yes I do agree with your points but as I know not all the people will refers the labels on the food and since that the less healthy the food, the cheaper for the food price,so how to solve this problem?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jia XinNovember 8, 2013 at 1:25 AM

      Thanks for your comment!=D Actually not all the unhealthy food are cheap, there are also expensive unhealthy food especially all those fast food... But still I do agree with your statement. Well, as long as there are the calories label there for the people to refer, this will help the people to plan on their calories intake. And, its very hard to control people's desire and action, but I will do my best to guide and let them know the importance of maintaining a healthy body and the impact of their unhealthy eating lifestyle through the campaign as I mention.

      Delete
  6. HuinglimNovember 5, 2013 at 4:35 PM

    post by LIM HUI YING

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownNovember 5, 2013 at 9:02 PM

    the ways to reduce heart disease that you stated is really useful. but hopefully the people will join and give support in the you are what you eat campaign.

    ReplyDelete
  8. UnknownNovember 6, 2013 at 7:48 AM

    Hi. I agree with your opinion. Can you explain more detail in the using of the salt and bad cholesterol reduction concept?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jia XinNovember 8, 2013 at 1:27 AM

      Thanks for your comment! =D And may I know explain more detail in term of??

      Delete
    2. UnknownNovember 12, 2013 at 8:54 AM

      Welcome. My meaning is, other than this concept, what other ways that can be done to reduce the calories intake? ( I think I have some grammer mistakes, sorry for that) =P

      Delete
  9. UnknownNovember 8, 2013 at 12:56 AM

    I totally agree with you about Malaysians should pay attention on their daily calories and nutrient intake because nowadays Malaysians always eating fast foods and oily foods and lack of exercise .

    ReplyDelete
  10. subuNovember 11, 2013 at 5:16 AM

    Too much of fat consumption will increase the cholesterol level which leads to heart disease. This is because too much of cholesterol in blood will make a wall for itself and make the arteries more narrower.Thus, slower down the blood flow to the heart muscle and block the chambers which lead to heart disease. so, reduction of cholesterol will prevent a person from getting heart disease.

    ReplyDelete
  11. UnknownNovember 12, 2013 at 5:43 AM

    Ya! I agree with your article. Malaysians like to eat outside food and this May cause the increase of cholesterol as most of the outside food are oily and high content of salt.

    ReplyDelete

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